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Please help - three balding guinea pigs

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ToffeesMum

ToffeesMum

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Hi, I'm new to the forum and hoping someone might be able to give me some advice. I've had guinea pigs for five years and never a day's ill health in any of them, but suddenly they've all been struck down and I'm not convinced my vets have a handle on the problem.

I have three pigs, Toffee, Blott and Pringle, and a couple of months ago I had to leave then in a small-pet kennels for five days. When I picked them up, Blott had lost some fur round her eye. I took her straight to the vet who diagnosed and treated her for mange. He said nothing about treating the other pigs, or isolating her.

Within days Toffee had lost a patch of fur on her back and it was scabby and infected, so I took all three pigs into the vet's and it was then I was told I should have kept them apart and disinfected the hutch. He treated them all with drops on their backs (Invectin? Something like that) and they've now all had their second treatment. I disinfected the hutch, but since they were all infected I kept them together.

However, though Toffee's skin healed and Blott's fur grew back, more bald patches came on Toffee, and Pringle and Blott's ears began to turn white. I took them back to the vet and she said it was a fungal infection and gave me Surolan to dose them with twice a day.

A test for ringworm came back negative so I used up all of the Surolan and thought they'd be fine. Instead, Toffee got balder and Pringle's started to go bald too. I took them back to the vet and he gave me more Surolan.

I'm now dosing them all twice a day, keeping the Toffee in a separate hutch as she's the worst, but I have no spare place to separate Blott and Pringle so they're in together, in their (again) disinfected hutch.

I don't know what to do!

All the exposed skin looks healthy, it's just that these bald patches round the neck and ears are not getting any better and I think they're going worse.

Any suggestions much appreciated. I absolutely hate keeping Toffee on her own as she's miserable, and I think the other two are missing her and confused too.
 
could post some pictures please?

ive found Malaseb shampoo from your vet works really well once a week for 3-4 wks works well.

also if its mange mites i find it works better the (ivermectin) when its injected under the skin rather than the spot on treatment

they also need 3 treatments 7-10 a part.

to be honest if your guineas have been incontact i wouldnt separate them as fungals incubate for 4 wks before signs of it comes out in the skin so yours have all got it anyway just that its affected your other worse doesnt mean the others will get it worse if they are together, it only gets worse if they arent treated or having the correct treatment.

pictures would be better though!

surolan is better for more localised areas not for the whole of the body x
 
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carrot_and_parsnip said:
Oh I have no advice, but I hope your piggies are better soon :) Did you tell the kennels about this?xox
Click to expand...

chances are they already were carrying the fungal before they went into boarding, has it takes longer than 5 days before it becomes to the point of baldness, its possable they had it before mild which wasnt picked up and the move and stress of going to a new place flared up the fungal more, you will need to contact the place they went too, as fungals can live in the wood so any other animal that stays in the boarding hutch can be at risk of fungal too x
 
Why surolan? Thats an antibacterial ear drop? Random choice.

First of all, what have the piggies had in treatment? First port of call for your vet should have been something like Xeno (Ivermectin) spot on treatment. Three treatments 10 days apart. Then if they did have mange or mites then injections weekly if the spot on didnt work. With regards to fingal, then they should have been given something like intrafungal (oral treatment) to give twice a day for two weeks to clear this up. I agree the cages should be cleaned out, but what are you cleaning them out with? Without adequate disinfectant or antifungal things then it will be impossible to treat your piggies. Sorry about all the blurb.

Maybe see a different vet?

x.
 
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Sorry to double post, but out of interest what are you bedding them on? And where is it from? There is ringworm/fungal going aroung PAH and its definatly in their hay.

x.
 
Poor you - completely understand your frustration. I once put my piggies into boarding and they came back covered in lice (which is a lot easier to get rid of). Currently I am treating the whole herd for fungal ringworm following patches developing on Bailey and Tia (housed separately across the room and I have no idea where they got it from!

Unfortunately piggie skin conditions such as mites and fungal can sometimes be difficult to eradicate owing to cross-contamination and reinfection...not least from hay/straw and exposure to fungal spores outside in the garden. Piggies are constantly exposed to these things but only show symptoms if they are stressedin some way eg malnutrition, poor living conditions, a change in living conditions (in your case the change in environment of boarding was probably the "stressor"...in my case it was also change in living conditions with the addition of/exposure to new pigs and also changing the bedding)


It would be really helpful if you could post some pigtures as people's descriptions of bald patches etc can vary and I am very hesitant to suggest anything without seeing exactly what the problem is. One thing that has struck me is that you are saying the surolan is not working....this would suggest you need to go back to a cavy savvy vet and have the following discussion.

it sounds that if the ringworm test is negative, and surolan is having no effect (and it is a pretty strong treatment to give for over a week or so) then the mites might still be there or have reinfected. If there is a serious mite infection that has gotten hold then ivermectin spot on treatment may not have been sufficient to eradicate it...especially if only given to one or two pigs. Spot-on is considered more of a preventative treatment or for low level infections. This precise situation occurred with another forum member...treated for mites, then ringworm....then re-treated for ringworm which id no good as in fact it was mites again.

Therefore I would suggest that instead you discuss with a cavy savvy vet the possibility of your piggies having ivermectin injections (three in total spaced 7-10 days apart) to completely get rid of the mites and any other creepy crawlies. They cannot start these injections untill 7-10 days after the last spot on treatment.

In order to prevent any fungal coming back that the surolan has knocked out..and also to prevent reinfection with mites, you also need to consider adopting strict hygiene measures

....3 days after the first injection, you could wash the piggies in an antifungal shampoo (Such as sporal D), leaving the lather to soak in for 5 minutes. Suzygpr recommended to me that after they have been rinsed to then apply imaverol dip from a syringe (made up 1/50 in warm water) to their skin/coats and leave it to dry. Again you need to get this approved by your vet although you can buy both items off the internet.


Take this "bathing" opportuity to thoroughly disinfect the cages/water bowls/bottles etc by soaking in bleach solution for at least 10 minutes prior to rinsing very thoroughly (at least 5 times). If the hutches are wood and not plastic then you will need to hoover up the dust/shavings first and then scrub bleach into the cage and leave to soak before rinsing thoroughly and drying in direct sunlight. The point is that the clean piggies must be put back into clean cages otherwise the cycle will start again.

Repeat the whole process 3 days after the next ivermectin injection and again for a third time. Make sure the piggies do not get chilled whilst they are drying off

Wash any fabric bedding and towels at high temperature (75degC plus) and put a disinfectant such as F10 into the wash (this is the only disinfectant I have found to date that claims to destroy fungal spores). Do not leave damp fabric lying around for 24 hours - bung it straight into the washing machine.

It requires a lot of hard work and discipline..and in between you have to be really careful to wash your hands between each pig if they are housed separately and ensure you have a disposable apron that is changed between each pig. However if you are "starting again" with the treatment, I don;t see any reason why they can;t be housed together.

Some other people may think what I have recommended is a bit overkill - however, all I know is that it works for me and whenever mites or fungal starts to rear it's ugly head, my "piggy domestos" routine stops it before it spreads any further to my other pigs, even if they are living in the same cage.

Whereabouts are you based? - perhaps we can recommend a cavy savvy vet.

x
 
Thanks!

This is fantastic, thanks. I am going to go through your replies carefully because there is a lot of info there, but I wanted to post some pics as well in case they shed any light. I'm based in n Shropshire, by the way.

However, I've gone into User CP and I don't seem to have a 'create albums' link. I know I'm being really dim, but can anyone help there?
 
To answer some of your questions, I contacted the kennels straight away and they were very surprised as they'd had no other cases (she said) and they disinfected the hutches with every new client. It could be that Blott brought it into the family as she's new - I got her from the pet shop a month or so before. She looked in tip top condition, but as you say, the stress of moving could have brought out a dormant illness.

They have had two doses of Ivermectin drops on their backs (vet seemed to think that was the course finished) and I've been treating them with Surolan for a fortnight.

They bed on hay and wood shavings, both bought from Countrywide.
 
If your referring to bald patches you are showing on your avatar, piggies always have bald patches behind their ears and this is normal. Although around the eyes etc isnt.

x.
 
Ive trawled through some of my piggie pics and these are all i can find that show the bald patch behind the ears. They do well to hide it with their hair well.

DSCF9118.jpg

DSC00618.jpg

23012011098.jpg


x.
 
Thanks, yes, the bald patches are bigger than the usual behind-the-ears spot and also Toffee's biggest was on her muzzle. The baldness is extending down her cheeks and sides of the head.
 
the baldness behind the ear doesnt look bad if anything looks quite normal, the skin from what i can see looks nice and not dry.

you can add more pictures on here if you register with photobucket and upload the pictures onto there and copy the IMG code and paste it onto a post on here, if it is ring worm then this is a nightmare to treat and humans can catch it .

if you can do the photobucket pictures and show us more pictures that would be great x
 
Abi_nurse said:
Why surolan? Thats an antibacterial ear drop? Random choice.

First of all, what have the piggies had in treatment? First port of call for your vet should have been something like Xeno (Ivermectin) spot on treatment. Three treatments 10 days apart. Then if they did have mange or mites then injections weekly if the spot on didnt work. With regards to fingal, then they should have been given something like intrafungal (oral treatment) to give twice a day for two weeks to clear this up. I agree the cages should be cleaned out, but what are you cleaning them out with? Without adequate disinfectant or antifungal things then it will be impossible to treat your piggies. Sorry about all the blurb.

Maybe see a different vet?

x.
Click to expand...

surolan can be used for localized areas of fungal where infection and inflammation is too x
 
Sorry about the delay

Sorry I didn't get back yesterday, but the day just ran away with me.

Right, I printed out your comments and highlighted the things I wanted to ask the vet. But in the meantime, I bathed my pigs and tried to restore their fur to its usual fluffiness (it had got all greasy with the Surolan). When they were dried and combed, they all looked a LOT better. The only skin I could see was those patches behind the ears.

I'd never really noticed the naturally bald bits before, in that although I knew those patches were there, I'd not clocked they were quite so big. They're very obvious on Pringle, who is part albino. I now suspect the reason I thought the pigs were balding in greater patches is because the Surolan was making their fur stick together and showing more skin than usual. So Toffee's flanks look all right this morning, and the other two pigs are only bald behind the ears in what now looks like a normal way. I've obviously stopped the Surolan pronto. Everyone's ear skin (I mean the actual ear flaps where the white fungus was) is OK for now, and the hair is growing back over Toffee's nose.

I will be disinfecting the indoor hutch (I did the outdoor one yesterday) and buying new plastic sleeping houses for them so I can clean more easily. They currently have a wooden house to sleep in.

So thanks to your help, I think we're OK. I'm SO glad I asked in this forum! With all the info you gave me, I feel much more on top of the situation if the fungus breaks out again, and I know I can go ask for Ivermectin injections of anti-fungal shampoo or oral drops too.

I really can't say thank you enough,. it's so nice to have them all back together again, as well.
 
Haven't managed to get onto the photo site yet but here's a clip of me talking about my two older girls. Blott hadn't arrived at that point, but she's small and completely black, a real sweetie. http://vyou.com/a/307708
 
hi,

does anyone know where to buy this F10 disinfectant that my vet told me to get?

sorry to ask, but one of our piggies has got mange, but i wasn't told to isolate him from the others.

thank you for any help
 
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